President Buhari at the UN

Oluwatosin Alalade

6 months ago

Mohammodu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari is currently in New York to attend the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly. Two days ago he delivered an impressive speech at the General Assembly which was warmly received by the world leaders attending the Session, including many African leaders. There are more than 100 world leaders attending the General Assembly. We should offer him our warmest congratulations for his bravery and patriotism in going to New York in spite of his recent grave illness, from which he has, obviously, not fully recovered yet. Attending a session of the UN General Assembly in New York is by no means an easy physical and mental task. Apart from the long flight to New York there are endless meetings to attend at the multilateral and bilateral levels, including meetings with his foreign counterparts, the multilateral UN and other financial agencies, potential foreign investors, particularly American investors, and the large Nigerian community in the United States. Many of these will be anxious to meet him and hear from him first hand reports about the disturbing political and economic situation in our country. From the official programe of his visit, which I have seen, and with which I am familiar, having once served at the UN, it is going to be a grueling progamme of meetings and events that could be telling on his stamina.

Now, his brief speech at the UN General Assembly, the full text of which I have seen, was delivered on Tuesday, two days ago. It was forthright and broadly consistent with the basic objectives and principles of Nigeria’s foreign policy since independence in 1960. In that speech he reiterated Nigeria’s total commitment to democracy, not only for ourselves .but for the whole of Africa. He assured the world leaders that, despite some setbacks over the years, Nigeria’s “faith and commitment in democracy remains unshaken”. He said the frontiers of good governance and democracy, including the holding of free elections, and the enthronement of the rule of law was expanding everywhere in Africa. In this regard he specifically referred to Nigeria’s role in promoting democracy in Africa by its direct intervention in resolving political conflicts in Africa, in such African countries as Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and, more recently, The Gambia. Nigeria’s decisive role in those countries made a huge difference to their political future and stability, badly needed in Africa. Nigeria can be proud of its leading role in resolving conflicts in Africa, in most cases by sending peace keeping troops to troubled African countries under the aegis of the UN. President Buhari also acknowledged the positive role of the UN and the international community in assisting countries of the Lake Chad region in offering those countries relief and other humanitarian assistance.

In his speech President Buhari expressed his concerns about the expansion of terrorism in the world including Boko Haram in Nigeria. He referred to what he called the exemplary show of solidarity by the international community in assisting countries in the Sahel and Lake Chad region, including in containing the threats of Al Qaida and Boko Haram in the region. He expressed regrets over the bloody civil war and carnage in Syria which have led to the problem of massive Syrian refugees in Europe and the neighboring countries. In this regard he expressed his appreciation of the efforts of Germany, Italy, Turkey, and Greece for their assistance to hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the major areas of conflict in the Middle East. He added that Nigeria too was providing relief and humanitarian assistance to millions in refugee camps in Nigeria afflicted by terrorism, drought, floods and other natural disasters.

He conveyed his support and appreciation for what the international community was doing globally to promote gender equality, social inclusion, youth empowerment, education, creativity and innovation. This is appropriate as the theme of this UNGA Session is “Focusing on people: striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”.

On the issue of widespread public corruption which he decried, he called for the cooperation of the international community in promoting global financial accountability by providing critical assistance and material support to combat corruption and asset recovery in which Nigeria is now closely involved.

President Buhari decried the new conflicts erupting in Myanmar which he compared to the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia in 1995 and Rwanda in 1994 and called on the UN and the international community to condemn “the horrendous suffering … of a state backed programme of a total depopulation of the Rohingyas in Myanmar.” His comments on the Middle East were no less scathing. He referred to the continuing flouting (by Israel) since 1967 of several UN Security Council Resolutions on the Middle East which has led to the continuing suffering of the Palestinian people and the blockade of Gaza. Broadly, these comments are consistent with Nigeria’s well known policy in the Middle East which supports a two states solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict

He expressed Nigeria’s support for the on- going efforts at reforming the entire UN system in which Nigeria has been involved since its admission to the UN in 1960. He also reiterated that any UN reforms should include the admission of one or two African members to the status of permanent members of the UN Security Council. This is a legitimate demand as the UN cannot truly be regarded as a global organization until its African members are treated equally, at all levels, with other regional groups. It is the only regional group that is excluded from the permanent membership of the UN Security Council with all its rights and privileges.

Altogether, it was a good outing by the president. Nigeria’s views and policy on all these global issues were very well articulated. In the course of his stay in New York he will be holding more talks at both the bilateral and multilateral levels. This is where the real diplomacy takes place, not at the UN itself. When he meets President Trump, President Buhari will be asking for more arms supplies from the US to fight terrorism in Nigeria. There is a mutuality of interests in evolved here. But he should also convey to him in very strong terms Nigeria’s concerns about the hostility of his government to black immigrants and the brutal manner in which blacks are being treated. This is totally unacceptable and intolerable in a civilized world.

Am. O. Fafowora

Amb. Dapo Fafowora is a former Ambassador and deputy permanent representative of Nigeria to the UN, New York.